B12 supplements and children

[Buffy]

Hi Jeff

I'm pregnant and am intending to breastfeed once my baby is born. I take a B12 supplement and so my baby will get B12 through my breast milk. Once my baby has weaned they will eat as my husband and I do (i.e. a plant-based diet). Should I give them a B12 supplement once they have weaned? If so, how much and in what form? Is there an age under which children should NOT be given B12 supplements?

Thanks

Buffy

[Buffy]

Just bumping this thread up

[JeffN]

Hi Jeff

I'm pregnant and am intending to breastfeed once my baby is born. I take a B12 supplement and so my baby will get B12 through my breast milk. Once my baby has weaned they will eat as my husband and I do (i.e. a plant-based diet). Should I give them a B12 supplement once they have weaned? If so, how much and in what form? Is there an age under which children should NOT be given B12 supplements?

Thanks

Buffy

Hi Buffy

Congratulations on your pregnancy. No better time to help a child learn a healthy lifestyle then right from conception.

As we know, B12 "is" an issue for vegans so ensuring adequate B12 intake is an important issue especially during infancy as an infants B12 stores are relatively low. In addition, there have been several reports of very serious B12 deficiency in vegan mothers' infants whose main or only food was breast milk when the mother did not supplement her own or the baby's diet with B12.

The RDA for vitamin B-12 in pregnant women is 2.6 µg per day and 2.8 µg during lactation periods. The adequate Intake (AI) for vitamin B12 for infants is 0.4 mcgs for 0-6 months and 0.5 mcgs for 7-12 months and0.9 for ages 1-3 yrs. As, B12 toxicity is relatively unknown, even at very high doses, it is probably better to be safe.

So, make sure you are currently following the recommendations I posted here in regard to B12 to ensure you are getting in enough and have adequte stores.

http://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewt ... hlight=b12

Then once you decide to wean your baby, it will also be important to make sure they get in enough.

In Health
Jeff

[Buffy]

Thanks!

[JeffN]

Okay you stopped at 3 yrs old. What is the RDA for 3 and up? Also my 2.5 yr old drinks about 10 ounces of soy milk per day, do I have to suplement her? That is something I have never thought about. I take a B complex since I was pregnant with my infant and still take one now about 2x per week but not for my toddler. Oh no .
THanks Deb

Hi Debbie,

Any pure vegan who is not consuming foods that have been fortified with B12, needs to ensure a reliable source of B12 in their diet.

All soy milks have different amounts, and offhand, I would not know. However, the soy milk will list how much B12 is in it on the label so you should be able to check.

The RDA for ages 4-8 is 1.2, for ages, 9-13 it is 1.8, for ages 14 and older it is 2.4.

In Health
Jeff

[JeffN]

Thanks Jeff

The milk lists the B12 as %50 of RDA, however I am not sure what that means exactly. What are the RDA's as such? Stupid ? I know. But for instance in the china study book Campbell says the RDa for calcium is much higher than we actually need. Is the RDA you quote what we really "need" or what "they" say we need? Thanks.
DEbbie

Good question!! This is an issue on food labels that I do not cover in the lecture. Its the part that i say, it would take hours to explain and then I have to tell you its worthless.

This is because the same label gives the % RDA for everyone, but we know that everyone can not have the same percent RDA as the RDAs have to be different based on age and gender.

What the USDA does is take the RDAs (now called DRIs) for all genders and ages and picks the highest one.

Quoting..

"Reference Daily Intake" replaces the term "U.S. RDA," which was introduced in 1973 as a label reference value for vitamins, minerals and protein in voluntary nutrition labeling. The name change was sought because of confusion that existed over "U.S. RDAs," the values determined by FDA and used on food labels, and "RDAs" (Recommended Dietary Allowances), the values determined by the National Academy of Sciences for various population groups and used by FDA to figure the U.S. RDAs. However, the values for the new RDIs remain the same as the old U.S. RDAs for the time being."

Also...

"The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is the value established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in nutrition labeling. It was based initially on the highest 1968 Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for each nutrient, to assure that needs were met for all age groups."

The numbers on the label reflect the highest 1968 value and the FDA realizes it needs to update these as the RDAs/DRIs have been updated around 4x since.

Here are the numbers the RDI is based on

Vitamin A 5000 IU

Vitamin C 60 mg

Vitamin D 400 IU (10 mcg)

Vitamin E 30 IU

Vitamin K 80 mcg

Thiamin 1.5 mg

Riboflavin 1.7 mg

Niacin 20 mg

Vitamin B-6 2 mg

Folate 0.4 mg(400 mcg)

Vitamin B-12 6 mcg

Biotin (300 mcg)

Pantothenic 10 mg

So, the 50% on the label you are referring to, for B12, is based on a value of 6 mcg

Now, in regard to your second point about calcium, yes, there are many factors that influence the need of each nutrient. And, if you read these reports, you will see that all of this is acknoweldged in the reports. For instance, the influence of protein and salt on calcium need is well explained and described in the WHO, FAO and NAS reportss

But, in regard to public health, it is difficult to give multiple numbers for mulitple factors for multiple nutrients for multipe populations groups. So, they try to simplify it and give a general number based on the "average" diet. Then, when neccessary, they make adjustments for gender and age.

Another example, not commonly known, is the issue with Zinc. Our DRI for zinc for adults males is around 11 and for adult females is 8. And, for many, especially on a vegan or vegetarian diet, it is difficult to achieve. But, if you read the full FAO report on zinc you find out that the actual need is around 4-11 depending on many other factors. So, many of us, who are eating very healthy, may be "aiming' for a DRI of zinc that is not applicable to us and we may need much less.

Knowing just these 2 issues (without even knowing many others) you can see the reason why I think trying to micro-manage the diet is not neccessary and this information on the food label, in general is not of value to any one individual as it doesnt apply to them. They are just VERY generic reference values.

However, B12 is a known and important issue.

Hope this helps

In Health
Jeff